How Larry Page pushed a young Sundar Pichai to make Google Chrome the top web browser in the world

When did it happen?
In 2008, current Google CEO Sundar Pichai was overseeing the launch of Chrome as part of his role as VP of Products where he worked closely with then-President of Products Larry Page.

What happened?

• When Chrome launched, Pichai set a fairly ambitious goal to hit 20M WAU (weekly active users) within the year - But a hiccup led to a missed milestone.
• Pichai then set another ambitious goal of 50M users for 2009 - But missed by 12 million. 
• When Pichai set the next year's goal at 100M (10% of the world's one billion internet users at the time) having put in place safeguards like advertising, faster code, and distribution deals - Larry Page stepped in to say it wasn't enough - After discussions the two settled on an over-ambitious 111M users target by the end of 2010.

Why did Page say that?
Page has always been a strong believer of keeping the bar as high as possible.
Some of his famous quotes mirror his words:

• "Always work hard on something uncomfortably exciting"
• "Have a healthy disregard for the impossible"
• "Consistently achieving goals at a 100% success means you aren't trying hard enough"
• "If you set a crazy, ambitious goal and miss it, you'll still achieve something remarkable"

What happened next?

• The more-than-aggressive goal pushed the pair to think about what they could do differently. 
• Google heightened awareness about Chrome via marketing tactics
• Google increased distribution deals
• Google launched Chrome on Apple's OS X platform and on Linux
• A few weeks into Q4 of 2010 they hit their over-ambitious target

Larry (L) & Sundar (R)

Source:

Thisisinsider.com/larry-page-google-chrome-sundar-pichai-goals-2018-6